In growing plants from seeds or seedlings, it is common to utilize various types of containers filled with a plant growing material, such as peat moss, soil, soil-like compositions, and the like. Containers in the form of bags have also been used for this purpose by appropriately cutting open the upper portions of the bags so that plants may be grown in the filler material contained within the bags.
In the past, the bags were made of a suitable plastic material, such as polyethylene or the like. Typically these bags were filled with peat moss or peat moss and fertilizer mixtures or similar types of materials. For watering the plants, water was supplied to the bags, through water tubing, at the upper surfaces of the bags near the plants. Excess water was permitted to drain from the bottoms of the bags through perforations. Sometimes, matting sheets were positioned beneath the bags to absorb excess water.
The plastic bags used in the prior conventional practices served as a means of isolating the fillers from possible contamination by soil organisms which adversely effect the plants, as well as to contain sufficient material for plant growth purposes.
The provision of water or water fertilizer mixtures to each bag and to the plants in each bag required a relatively extensive network of irrigation piping and tubing, as well as considerable labor. In commercial growing, a relatively large number of bags are needed. Consequently, considerable labor was needed to cut and perforate each bag to the extent necessary for watering and drain purposes as well as to set-up and maintain the irrigation system.
Moreover, bag irrigation tubes are occasionally plugged by foreign matter or have otherwise failed, which interferred with the expected water feed. In addition the control of the water feed system, particularly the rate and timing of water flow, required considerable care. Whether manual or automatic, the prior watering systems were sporadic in nature, with the attempt being made to provide water on some pre-scheduled basis. The growers experience, including his consideration of environmental factors such as light levels, temperature, humidity, etc., were considered in determining water feeding amounts and schedules. But, because of the many variables obviously, optimum watering was not generally attainable.
Because of the relatively sophisticated control requirements, a more automatic watering system, less dependent upon grower experience and instrumentation, was needed. Further, in commercial use of bags for large scale growing of plants, because of the necessary equipment, instrumentation, etc., protective shelters, such as greenhouses have been needed. Also, the bags themselves had to be handled carefully to avoid breakage or puncturing which would present handling problems within a shelter.
Hence, the invention herein relates to improvements in growing bags and bag systems which substantially minimizes many of the problems encountered in prior bag systems.